Country of citizenship: United States
Residence:
Omaha,
NE,
United States
Industry: Investments
Marital Status: widowed
, 3 children
University of Nebraska Lincoln, Bachelor of Arts / Science
Columbia University, Master of Science

Newspaper delivery boy filed first 1040 at age 13; claimed $35 deduction for bicycle. Studied under Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Applied value-investing principles to build Berkshire Hathaway to $133 billion (market cap) holding company: insurance, energy, carpets, jewelry, furniture, paint (Benjamin Moore), apparel (Fruit of the Loom). Also big stakes in American Express, Coca-Cola, Gillette (now set to merge with Procter & Gamble). Admits Berkshire's $30 billion-plus cash hoard is underutilized: "It's a painful condition to be in, but not as painful as doing something stupid—[Vice Chairman] Charlie [Munger] and I detest taking even small risks." Recent bets include Pier One Imports, Comcast, food distributor McLane. Bought mobile-home maker Clayton Homes after reading autobiography by company founder. "If we fail, we will have no excuses." Since taking control of Berkshire has delivered compound annual return of 24%. Outspoken opponent of Bush tax cuts, courted as adviser to pols Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Kerry. Critic of lax corporate governance, became target of failed campaign to vote him off Coca-Cola board. Fanatical supporters still far outnumber critics: Berkshire's folksy annual meeting crowds routinely top 15,000.

Distribution of Billionaires by Country
Diameter of disc reflects size of fortune. The red disc indicates Warren Buffett.

Stock quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes for Nasdaq, at least 20 minutes for NYSE/AMEX.
U.S. indexes are delayed at least 15 minutes with the exception of Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 which are 2 minutes delayed.